Generally speaking, mobile computing devices (“mobile devices”) combine characteristics of high levels of mobility, usefulness, and affordability. With high general utility at low cost, the mobile devices have become commonplace even in the consumer electronics (CE) marketplace. At least as significant, moreover, is the adoption of the use of the mobile devices over a wide spectrum of industrial, technical, and commercial spaces. Examples include order picking, inventory, and parking law enforcement.
The high mobility characteristics also relate to the ability of mobile devices to operate untethered from external power sources. Mobile devices are energized, over significant portions of their operations, by electrical power consumed from an on-board battery source. As the mobile devices operate over time, the power remaining available from the batteries diminishes, and at some point, may be recharged.
Extending the duration of a battery charge, and corresponding time between recharges, may mitigate the reduction in the mobility characteristic associated with connecting the mobile devices to the chargers or swapping battery packs. Extending the duration of a battery charge allows the device to be used continuously or repeatedly over the period of the charge duration, and increases the mobility and efficiency of use.
The high mobility and communicability characteristics of mobile devices allow the use of the devices over significant distances, and in various environments. For example, a mobile device may be used within indoor environments, as well as outdoors. A first environment may have a first temperature, and a second environment may have a second temperature, higher than the first (or vice versa).
After use at a lower first temperature (e.g., outdoors on a cold day), the device may be moved, in use (or used subsequently), indoors into the warmer second temperature. Optical windows disposed over components of the device, such as display screens, scanners, and/or cameras, may fog over or frost over in such a circumstance obscuring the display or rendering a scanner or camera unusable. During the persistence of such fogging or frosting effects, the usefulness of the mobile device may be diminished. To prevent or ameliorate this effect, some mobile devices incorporate heater or other energy transfer elements to remove or prevent fog or frosting.
Like the other components of the mobile device, the heater elements are energized by the on-board battery. While they are energized, the heater elements may consume significant amounts of power from the battery at a high rate. Thus, the operation of the heater elements may reduce the duration of a battery charge (“runtime”) and the amount of time until the next recharge. Increased peak power usage may also cause a premature shut down of the mobile device before the battery has been fully discharged.
It could be useful therefore, to promote the extension of the mobility characteristics of mobile devices in general, and more particularly, in relation to energy efficiency and operational features that may promote the range and spectrum of environments in which they may be used. It could also be useful to reduce the effect of mobile device heater element operation on the duration of a battery charge. It could be useful, further, to increase the efficiency of the operations of mobile device heater elements and other power consuming circuits in the mobile device that can be set to a lower power state or selectively disabled.